S P Balasubramanyam: The singing moon

SERIN THANKAM SAM

Always smiling, always singing SPB – that is how people will remember the prodigious singer. Paadum Nila (Singing Moon), as he was called by his fans, had a golden voice that effortlessly captured varied human emotions and feelings. The way he weaved magic through his music is unmatched.

When S P Balasubramanyam won his first national award for the Telugu film “Shankarabharanam” (1979), he confessed that he had never learnt Carnatic music. What helped SPB to overcome those shortcomings to become a legend were his dedication and loads of talent to back his enchanting voice.

Born as Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubramaniam, in 1946, to Nellore-based Harikatha exponent Sambamurthy, SPB’s ambition was to become an engineer. His failure to clear a subject in his PUC forced him to pursue another course in Chennai. Yet, destiny had other plans in store for him. Music lured him towards singing competitions and finally to the film world.

Interestingly, his first big break happened in Telugu film Sri Sri Mariatha Ramanna in 1967. Although he got a hold in the Telugu film industry, getting an opportunity in Tamil cinema remained elusive until M S Viswanathan spotted him. However, his debut Tamil song in “Shanthi Nilayam” (an adaptation of Jane Eyre) in 1969 didn’t see the light of the day.

So, as luck would have it, SPB’s first song to be heard by Tamil listeners was for the MGR-Jayalalitha starrer, “Adima Penn”, a box office hit that was released in 1969. Till then MGR had refused to let anyone to sing song for him expect for T.M Soundararajan. The music composer of the film KV Mahadeven convinced MGR to hear SPB’s song “Ayiram Nilavey Vaa”. MGR was so mesmerised with the young SPB’s voice that he called the singer to his house to gift him a gold ring. Since then SPB has been the reigning playback singer in Tamil cinema.

When he won his second national award for “Ek Duje Ke Liye” (1981), he had made another confession that he didn’t know Hindi. However, it doesn’t stop him from being one of the sought after singers in Hindi cinema, probably the only South Indian singer who endured Bollywood for decades.

S P Balasubramnayam was literally the voice of almost every Salman Khan songs from the 90s, most popular being ‘Saathiya Tune Kya Kiya’, ‘Tumse Milne ki Tamannah Hai, ‘Kabhi Tu Chaliya Lagta Hai, ‘Pehla Pehla Pyar Hai and Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali.

A great fan of Mohammed Rafi, SPB once said that the Hindi singer was his inspiration to sing romantic songs with such passion and involvement.

SPB could easily record half a dozen songs in a day, travelling between studios and singing for different composers and even languages. Hence, it is not a surprise that he holds the Guinness record for having the highest number of songs – more than 40,000 in 14 languages – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada,Malayalam, Hindi, Tulu, Oriya, Assamese, Punjabi – among them. Whatever the language, he would make sure to get the pronunciation right.

There was even an instance when he recorded 17 songs in Kannada for composer Upendra Kumar in Bangalore for 12 hours in 1981.

SPB sang over 2,000 songs for Ilayaraja alone. He and Ilayaraja had a small falling out after the music composer prevented him from singing on stage the songs composed by him, based on copyright claims. Later, the two patched up in a public event.

SPB always rooted for talented young singers. He encouraged another playback singer Mano, who had a similar voice and style. SPB spoke to Ilayaraja and gave an opportunity for Mano to sing for Rajinikanth. When SPB had to take a break after a surgery on his vocal chords he called top music directors and asked them to use Mano.

He enthusiastically sang for any new or upcoming music composer saying it gave him another opportunity to explore creativity and recognise talent. He looked at every opportunity with the excitement of a child.

When A.R Rahman first recorded him for Roja (1992), the bulky singer had to squeeze himself in a small glass cubicle to record his songs. Yet, he never complained about it and gave the evergreen melody ‘Kadhal Rojave’.

It was only a matter of time before SPB started composing music for films. He has scored music for 45 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. His talent didn’t see himself confined to singing and composing, he went on to act in several films too. “Acting came easily to me since a singer emotes in front of the microphone and innumerable stage shows meant that I had no stage or camera fear,” he said once.

For millions of fans across the world, S P Balasubramanyam’s evergreen voice that made them sing, dance, cry and introspect, will live on. He will always be the most loved singer ever.